Rising sophomore Susannah Hurst took fifth in the 5k at the 2012 USA Track & Field Junior Outdoor Championships.

June 19, 2012

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Rising sophomore Susannah Hurst took fifth in the 5,000-meter run, while her classmate Kaitlin Urmston placed 10th in the javelin at the 2012 USA Track & Field Junior Outdoor Championships last weekend at the Robert C. Haugh Complex in Bloomington, Ind. Temperature at the venue was recorded at a blistering 93 degrees.

Hurst, a Salt Lake City native, fought through the heat to take fifth in the 5,000-meter run at a time of 17:28.56.

In the javelin, Urmston, a Spanish Fork, Utah product, persevered to finish 10th in the individual standings with a mark of 137'00".

"This is our third consecutive year with a top-five finisher (Amanda Mergaert in the 1,500-meter run 2010 and Rebekah Winterton in the 5,000-meter race in 2011)," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "That is a great sign that we are recruiting well and then developing our young athletes right away as true freshmen. Hopefully, we can continue to build on this success and qualify athletes for future World Junior Championship meets where they will not only represent the University of Utah, but the United States."

Up next for the Utes is the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Former Ute Shayla Houlihan has qualified to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which begins with the qualifying heats at 4:50 p.m. PT on Monday, June 25 and the final will be held at 4:45 p.m. PT on Friday, June 29.

Mergaert has provisionally qualified for the 1,500-meter run and is waiting to see if her declaration is accepted. The qualifying heats of the race are scheduled to begin Thursday, June 28 at 3:50 p.m. PT. The semifinals will be ran Friday, June 29 at 3:45 p.m. PT, followed by the final at 4:23 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 1.